Waking Up to New
by akiarashi0822
Summary: Cloud has a dream come true and hopes that it's not taken away. Tifa goes along for the ride, not completely sure if she likes the changes, but willing to try. C/Z/T/A/S and learning to be parents to 7 kids. Spoilers for AC and games. Lazy beginning.
1. Chapter 1

Cloud slipped out of his bed and stretched. _Buying those custom beds was such a good idea. They didn't even put much of a dent in what we saved up. _He quietly walked out of his room and made a small stop in the bathroom. After he washed his hands he checked up on the three kids they'd adopted, Denzel, Kaylee, and Thomas, along with Marlene and Tifa. All of them were sound asleep and Marlene and Kaylee, the girl with the Moogle plush, had curled up together in bed. Cloud smiled at the peacefulness that his life had gained for the first time in a long time. It was good to not worry.

Seeing how early it really was he decided to go back to his bed. So, he climbed the stairs back up to the part of the house that held his and Tifa's rooms and quietly went back into his room... Only to stop and stare at his bed. _How...? I... maybe I'm hallucinating or sleepwalking, or dreaming. I'll ask Tifa to come look and make sure I'm not seeing things again. That is a __**great**__ idea..._ He turned around and walked out of his room ignoring the lumps on his bed, for the moment. The blond entered Tifa's room and paced over to her bed. He reached out and shook her shoulder. Blurry red-brown eyes met clear shining blue and the young woman made a curious sound. "Tifa? Can you... come look at my bed and... er... this sounds really stupid, but could you make sure I'm not hallucinating or dreaming?"

"Cloud? I... sure, I guess." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Did you check on the kids?" Tifa asked quietly as she puts on her slippers.

"Yeah, they're all sleeping soundly in they're beds. That wasn't what I was worried about."

"Didn't think it would be, but I could hope..."

"If it is real... don't do anything rash? They seem okay, er... feel, maybe? None of them have the feel of being adverse to our health. Just giving you a bit of warning." He whispered this as they're between the two rooms.

"They...? Oh... my..." Tifa stopped at the sight before her and Cloud quickly back-peddled to avoid knocking her over. "I don't think you're hallucinating..." Three figures were curled and wrapped around each other on the blond's large bed. He'd gotten it and one of similar size for Tifa so that the kids would have room to sleep in the same bed after nightmares. The one closest to them was turned towards them, tanned body held by a thinner, paler arm of the only woman in the bed. The silver haired man had an arm around the girl and a hand buried in the tanned man's thick and spiky black hair. The woman's other hand was curled up under the tall, silver haired man's cheek. Cloud slipped past Tifa and padded silently towards his bed. He stood there for a few minutes, just looking and memorizing how peaceful the three look, just in case it wasn't real and what he was about to do made them all just fade away. Which, wouldn't actually surprise him...

Cloud leaned over and poked the black-haired man on the shoulder. The man's arms uncurled, his hands wrapped around the blond's arm and gently, but insistently, he dragged the other down into a warm embrace. The arms rearranged the blond into a comfortable position for them both and then they settle around his waist. Wide blue eyes stared at the woman in the doorway as his lips mouth 'I wasn't expecting that'. Her red-brown eyes twinkled with suppressed laughter and she watched as the darker man's head nestled into the blond's neck. The black haired man muttered a few unintelligible words and settled back down with a small smile and his prize. Cloud gestured for Tifa to come over and silently says, 'You may as well, I think the bed will hold us. And this'll probably be the best route so that when we all wake up we can find out what happened, right?'

Tifa smiled as she walked over and let his arms wrap around her and her arms go around him and the dark haired man. 'I know what happened,' she whispered as she looked up at him. 'You finally got the happy ending you wished for...' her eyes close on the most breathtaking smile she had ever seen the blond make.

Cloud lightly kisses Tifa's forehead and falls into the stillest sleep he's had since before Nibelheim, with his loved ones all together and as sane as could be.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Waking Up

Follows: Bed

Pairings: Sephiroth/Aeris/Zack/Cloud/Tifa in the subtext

Warnings: Minor Spoilers for the FF7 verse and does not have conversations as those that would talk are mostly asleep.

Notes: I originally thought I had finished with this verse but Aeris decided to say "Write this" to me and the last time turned out ok, so... By the way, they are refusing to tell me how they got there and only smile at me when I ask them. Though Aeris seems to have relented a little by the end of it and gives a hint.

Summary: Aeris wakes up to find herself alive and in bed with three men and a woman.

Aeris muttered as the sunlight from the window hit her right in the face. She tried to move her hands to shield them but both seemed to be encumbered by something. Accepting that she was going to have to wake up, but not wanting to leave the comfortable warmth that she had found herself in, she slowly took stock of what she could sense. Some part of her tried to say that she shouldn't be feeling anything, but she ignored it and went about cataloging what she could feel around her. Her right arm felt like it had slipped itself under and around a warm masculine body and was now smushed between two people. The other didn't feel curvy either, so she assumed her right arm was trapped by two guys. She hoped she knew them, because this could get **very** awkward very quickly if she didn't.

Her left hand felt like it was gently cupping a cheek. Soft hair was under it, and the skin of the cheek was warm and silky smooth. She smiled as she noticed that the person that her left hand was under had one arm pillowed beneath her head and the other arm wrapped around her waist. She knew that to get into that position whoever this was had to be facing her and on their side. She also knew that the guy that her right arm was around had faced in the same direction that the other two seemed to have so that his back was to her. Aeris could feel legs entangled with her own but couldn't figure out how many there actually were.

She could hear soft breathing all around her and the person that her left hand was touching was breathing gently onto her lower arm. A light ticking of a clock drifted up to them, and two quiet children's voices were heard down below but the two kids seemed content to stay where they were right then. She noticed that the voices from the Lifestream seemed to be quiet and that little voice saying that she shouldn't be feeling things came back a little louder now. Aeris wondered why since she was very content with being able to feel what she did. Once again the voice quieted and she slowly blinked her emerald colored eyes open and stared up at her brown bangs and the dark wood of the ceiling. On the ceiling she noticed a black fan and a white light fixture. She leaned her head back a little and saw that the walls were a very pale blue that looked almost white.

After staring at the ceiling and wall for a few minutes she turned her head to the left to see who her head was lying on. Shining silver hair and pale skin greeted her curious eyes. She knew that under those eyelids were catlike, jade colored eyes. The man's face was nearly perfect. She wondered how she had come to be in bed with Sephiroth, _especially since_, as the little voice now stated loud and clear, _both of them should be very dead_. She looked down and was relieved to note that both of them were clothed in what appeared to be night-clothes. Deciding to see who else they shared the bed with and whether or not she knew where they were she turned her head over to the right, while acknowledging that Sephiroth **seemed** to deem her safe enough to stay asleep around.

First thing she noticed was that black hair was mixed with blond and Sephiroth's right hand was entangled in the black strands. The head with the black hair was resting on top of the blond and both seemed to be very spiky. The dark haired man had his arms around the blond man. Aeris looked down at where her right hand had curled up over the black haired man and noticed that another slim feminine hand, this one with callouses over the knuckles, was draped across both of the men that had trapped her arm. She assumed that the black haired man was Zack and the blond Cloud, partly due to the hair of course, but she had no idea who the other woman could be. She tried to lever herself up and huffs as she remembered she can't **do** that without waking most of them up in the process. She heard a soft snicker after her huff from her right, deep enough to be one of the men and she felt Cloud shift a bit, probably as much as he could with the way he was pinned by Zack and whoever the other woman was.

Aeris moved her arm slowly and carefully from underneath the black haired man. Once she was free she stayed still for a few minutes as he shifted closer to the blond and muttered into his hair, then Zack went back into a deeper sleep. Quiet chuckles came from the blond as he's tickled by the other spiky haired man. She let out a sigh of relief as the brunet stayed asleep and slowly levered herself up. When she was finished, Sephiroth's right arm was behind her and his left was across her lap. She looked over towards the youngest man of the three to see who the woman he's cuddling was. As she put her right hand on Cloud's shoulder so that she could lean over she saw a shapely figure molded to the blond. A soft face peeked out from long dark brown hair and her head was fitted into the space below Cloud's chin. Aeris recognized Tifa and she smiled as she saw that Cloud had allowed someone else close after she and Zack had said goodbye in the church. They hadn't wanted to, but the Cetra had said they needed the energy that the two of them had been using to visit to do something. Apparently, this was what they'd been trying for, but she had no idea why the Cetra had actually allowed this to happen. She sent a quiet thank you into the Lifestream and settled herself down to wait for the other three to wake up and let herself listen to the quiet noises of the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Such a Strange Morning

Follows: Waking Up

Pairings: eventually going to be Sephiroth/Aeris/Zack/Cloud/Tifa if they get that far.

Spoilers: Minor spoilers from the FF7 universe

Notes: I haven't played the game much. I started it to try and get better characterizations than what they had in the movie. Please forgive any mistakes I make due to that. Also I am fine with constructive criticism and will try to fix what mistakes I've made. This appears to be a series now, but I had been hopeful that the first one was going to be it.

Warnings: Umm... If you don't like any hints of people being in polygamous relationships don't read.

Summary: Sephiroth wakes up.

Sephiroth woke from a sound sleep without giving any outward signs of waking. When he had been in the labs, and later Wutai, it had become essential to appear to be unaware of your surroundings to better surprise the individual that had snuck up on you. He had felt someone move from being on top of his right arm and under his left arm to being, well... still under his left arm but sort of leaning against his right arm. He also realized quite suddenly that his right hand had wrapped itself in someone's hair during the night. Sephiroth decided to risk opening his eyes since he was nearly positive that someone was awake and could inform him of the situation that he had been put into. His eyes opened to see pale pink cloth wrapped around a hip almost directly in front of his eyes. He moved his eyes up and up until he could see the face of the woman sitting next to him. "Miss Gainsborough," he murmured. "What is the current situation?"

"Actually, I have no idea, I've been waiting for everyone to wake up. Tifa and Zack are still sound asleep, Cloud is awake, though." She murmured back in a soft voice.

"I found you guys in my bed last night and when I poked Zack to see if he was real, he tugged me down onto the bed. I then invited Tifa onto the bed because, well, I figured, 'what's one more?'" Strife explained quietly.

"Neither of you know what is going on?"

Both gave negative responses and the cadet said, "I was sure that there was no-one there when I got up but when I got back, the three of you were lying all curled up and stuff. It was very surprising..." He then continues on in a mumble, "'specially since you were all **very **dead before last night..."

Aeris nodded and went 'mmhmm.'

Sephiroth, unsure as to whether he had heard Strife's mutter properly, carefully took his arm off of Aeris' lap and cleared out his ears. Not finding anything blocking the passageways of his ears, which would have explained him hallucinating such a strange comment, he ran what he thought he had heard back through his head. Then he said, "Excuse me? We are supposed to be what?"

He heard the blond shift and Zack mutter in a calming manner as if soothing a nightmare. The boy waited until the black haired man had gone back into a deeper sleep before going, "Ummmm... Crap, forgot how good Zack's and your hearing was... Do you think you can wait to hear what I know?"

"Yes," Sephiroth stated.

"...Waitasec, Aeris, what do you mean 'Mmhmm'?" Both individuals awaited Miss Gainsborough's response to the younger's question.

"I know, I remembered. So, I agree with you as to what we should be." She smiled almost angelically. He remembered what Zack would do after smiling that type of smile and immediately became worried.

"Miss Gainsborough, what are you planning?"

"Aeris, Sephiroth, call me Aeris, and Cloud would like to be called Cloud, not Strife or whatever you've been thinking him as. Especially since we've slept in the same bed together, and shared boyfriends." She stated this calmly and happily. The silver haired man stares at her in bewilderment, "Oh, and who says I'm planning anything?" As she asked this a mischievous twinkle entered into her eyes and his worry grew exponentially.

The spiky haired blond snorted at Aeris' question and the General responded, "You appear to be much like Zack. When he had that look things would get very interesting for a while around the offices. He was a very ingenious prankster, Miss... I mean, Aeris." He quickly changed his mode of address when she gave him an extremely pointed look.

"Well, I must say that I occasionally provided Zack ammunition, specifically, the edible ammunition, like the pies and the syrups and the cakes and all. And what I'm planning is a secret, I refuse to have either of you stop me before I put it into motion." She grinned and winked at the very tall man. "It just wouldn't do what it was supposed to if stopped in the middle of its implementation. Plus, I think that both of you will enjoy the effects, even if it seems a bit odd at the start." The green eyed girl then poked at the general, "I think you need to sit up and see how much seven and a half years have changed your cadet. You don't seem anything like I remember you being two and a half years ago. You're, what, twenty-five? Thirty tops? Cloud is twenty-three now."

"His cadet?" Cloud squeaked at Aeris.

"What do you mean, 'Cloud is twenty-three'?" A rarely heard confused note entered Sephiroth's voice as he levered himself up on the bed and began trying to extricate his right hand from the tangle it had made with the spiky black hair of his best friend.

Aeris giggled at the two of them and helped the General get his hand out of her boyfriend's hair. "You're missing a few years Sephiroth, either that or you just haven't remembered them yet. You... Look younger than what you had the last time Cloud and I saw you, so I'm figuring that the clock was turned back for you. I'm hoping it's the former rather than the latter, it'll probably make some things easier for a few of us." She said the last parts thoughtfully and took the last tangle out leaving the silver-haired man free.

Sephiroth levered himself off of the bed and silently padded around to the other side of the bed to look down upon the man that had been, and to his mind still was, his cadet. Instead of seeing the shortish, gangly little boy that had been dragged around by his best friend and eventually wormed his way into Sephiroth's heart to rest right beside Zack's place that he'd expected, he saw the man that Cloud had become. While comparing the two images he had when one of them was lying down was difficult, he did begin cataloging the differences he could clearly notice. Cloud's eyes were calmer, more confident, glowing, and sort of reminded Sephiroth of a combination of his own and Zack's. They still had that brilliant blue hue that had captivated him, but were now even more alluring than before. The blond man's hair was a little shorter, which had tamed his spikes a little but they were still as gravity defying as they were when he'd been a child. "Does your hair still stay upright when it rains?" Sephiroth asked Cloud curiously.

Aeris giggled at the question while the silver haired man watched in fascination as the blond blushed. He coughed and responded, "Um... yes, I can't believe you remembered that..." He said in embarrassment.

A rare smile appeared on the ex-General's face, "Of course I do, I remember a lot about both you and Zack." The tall man continued to look at what differences seven and a half years had wrought on his once young cadet. The man had gotten far more muscular and toned, yet they were of a swords-man's physique and not that of a weight lifter or those hulking idiots who thought the bigger you were the better you fought. Sephiroth knew that Cloud could probably move fast if he had to. The man was also taller and tanner than he'd been at sixteen. The silver haired man glanced at his best friend and saw that he also looked older than he had when he'd last seen him prior to falling asleep on that sea-worthy vessel to Nibelheim. The young woman in Cloud's arms stirred and Sephiroth realized that it was Tifa Lockeheart, who'd cut her hair in the intervening years and had grown up from the picture that Cloud had shown him on that boat. He watched in a bit of curiosity as the blue-eyed young man's arms tightened around the woman, not out of fear of himself, which he had slightly expected, but to... to... protect him from the possibility that Miss Lockeheart would try to attack him. Cloud, for the boy turned man was experienced enough now to be his equal, gave him an apologetic look before focusing his attention on the woman in his arms.

(AN: It's incomplete because this'll go directly into Tifa's, now that she's cooperated enough to give me her chapter.)


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Of Learning

Follows: Such a Strange Morning

Pairings: eventually going to be Sephiroth/Aeris/Zack/Cloud/Tifa if they get that far.

Spoilers: Minor spoilers from the FF7 universe

Notes: I haven't played the game much. I started it to try and get better characterizations than what they had in the movie. Please forgive any mistakes I make due to that. Also I am fine with constructive criticism and will try to fix what mistakes I've made. This appears to be a series now, but I had been hopeful that the first one was going to be it.

Characterization Notes: Cloud had gotten most of his real memories back when Aerith and Zack said goodbye to him in the church. He starts telling Tifa stories about his time in ShinRa's cadet force and meeting Zack, the General, and Aerith. He also remembered a bit of the labs and told her he could still hear the screaming of those who'd died in Nibelheim, and wouldn't tell her anything else about that. He also told her that Seph started changing when he got the massive headache on the road into Nibelheim. She got to know the General Sephiroth that Cloud had known, who'd been an excellent military leader that was concerned with the well-being of his soldiers, from cadets to First Class. He didn't show it outwardly, but Cloud knew the man had known the names of all the injured and deceased, and details on the abilities of his units.

Warnings: Umm... If you don't like any hints of people being in polygamous relationships don't read.

As Tifa stirred within the confines of strong arms she feels the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She knew that when they did that she would find someone intently watching her. The arms that she was lying in felt familiar and she wondered when she had slipped into Cloud's bed or he into hers. She slowly opens her eyes to stare at... Cloud's chest? Why was she staring at his chest? She was taller than him... by an inch, well not including his haywire hair. If she did count the hair, which she didn't, but if she did, then he would be an inch or two taller than her. Not quite able to figure out why she was staring at her pseudo-boyfriend's chest she tilts her head up and accidentally knocks into something. Judging by the quiet "Ow," that was in Cloud's voice, she'd just bumped his chin.

She looks into his face as he looks down at her, "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry..." She mutters.

The young blond man chuckles lightly, "S'okay, it only hurt a little. You've got a hard head." He says affectionately. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

Tifa glances to the right, towards her ceiling and gasps as she sees Aeris smiling down at them from a seated position. Everything comes tumbling back, Cloud waking her up, seeing Zack, Aeris, and Sephiroth wrapped around each other in Cloud's bed. How Zack had pulled Cloud down onto the bed and then Cloud offering her a place too. "Oh, uh... yes, I do now. Sorry about that. It takes me a little while to wake up in the mornings without coffee. Except when the kids have problems and you have to be awake or they might get one over on you... I think that was how they convinced us to go on that vacation to Costa del Sol a few months ago actually. How did they find out about your vacation house anyways, Cloud?"

Aeris laughs at that and behind herself she hears a deeper chuckle as she watches the blond in front of her grin. Tifa takes a glance up and behind her to see the tall silver-haired ex-General smiling for the first time in her life. She sees in that glance why Cloud had insisted that the being that they'd been fighting wasn't the Sephiroth that he knew. The spiky haired blond says, "I'm not quite sure, maybe Marlene managed to hear about it and remembered so that she could see it one day? You know she always likes to travel."

"She was very disappointed when we had her stay with my mother while we traveled. Lots of pouting and whining and stomping of feet. Mom had to promise to help her learn to bake pies and cakes, to keep her from thinking about what we'd been doing," the brown haired woman says. "Sephiroth, come on and sit with your back to me, I want to braid your hair."

"No ribbons or anything too complicated, please. I'd rather not give you or Zack more ammunition against us."

"Wish I'd remembered when I met back up with her. Would've helped a lot. At least there's no pictures," Cloud says in reply as the silver general follows the Cetra's request.

Aerith blinks, "Cloud, it was Corneo's mansion, do you really think he wouldn't have surveillance?"

He turns bright pink and hides his face in Tifa's hair, and she hears a muffled, "Ah fffck." Both girls snicker, then he asks, "Do you know where they are now?"

"How did you get into Don Corneo's mansion, Cloud?" The silver haired man queries, tilting his head slightly.

"Idun'wannatalk'boutit."

The girls were now laughing far too hard to answer, but Zack mumbles, "Aerith dressed the kid up as a girl. Looked pretty good too."

"Ah you're awake. Thankyou."

"ZAA~ACK!" Cloud yelps, then groans and hides his face further into dark hair, Tifa giggles harder.

"Just a bit. Don't want to open my eyes yet. And you were very cute, Spike. What do we have to do to get you to wear it again?"

"Not gonna wear it again," he replies grumpily. There's a thump as Tifa laughs herself off the bed and if Sephiroth had not been between Aerith and the edge, she would have too.

"I wish to see the result as well, as I do not remember this. Was it during the blank portion of my memories?" The two girls sober up, Zack loses a bit of his grin, and Cloud tenses slightly.

"Yeah, Seph, it was. And we'll tell ya, just, I want coffee first, and I'm sure everyone will want breakfast."

"Coffee made you calm, not wake up," Cloud snorted. "You need the sugar in it, don't you?"

"Pssh, you know me, more sugar than coffee, the caffeine lets me focus and the sugar speeds me up." He grins slightly wider as he says this.

"He what?" Aerith and Sephiroth blink at Cloud's revelation. Tifa sits up on the ground rubbing her sore back as she listens to the other four interact.

The blond arches an eyebrow, "Obviously neither of you have tried his Jitter Special. Or saw the effects when Garreth gave Zack just coffee because we were out of sweets to put in it. We were all exhausted and instead of perking up like he did with the Jitter Special, within an hour he was sleeping against his chocobo," he nudges Zack, who squirms and bats at his hand.

"Quit it, wanna stay 'sleep. And they didn't need to know that," The other spiky haired guy groans.

White teeth gleam in a grin beneath glowing blue eyes, "Turnabouts fair play, Zack."

"No 's'not," he grumbles as he shoves his head into his pillow and pushes at Cloud. Who winks at Tifa and grabs the pushing hand. As Tifa scrambles over to the wall, the blond rolls both himself and his best friend out of the bed. "Ow, and not fair."

"Pssh, you landed on me."

"You rolled us out of bed! And you have bony bits sticking in to me... Do you ever eat?" The black haired man pokes at the blond's ribs.

He gets poked right back, and squirms slightly. "SOLDIER metabolism, dumb-butt. You have the same boniness as me... Are you ticklish?" Blond brows scrunch as he asks that curiously.

"...No." Zack says this too flatly and quickly to be anything but a lie.

"YES!" Aeris confirms gleefully as she waves some of Sephiroth's hair around.

Tifa starts giggling again as Cloud attacks Zack's stomach with his fingers. Aeris continues to play with the Silver General's hair, both of them watching the three on the floor in amusement.

.

A/N: This is what I used to get this written, given as this Tifa is way different from any of the other Tifa's I've written. Tifa personality and background for this series: Strong in body, good at martial arts, starts off game a bit of a brat but grows up, takes care of Marlene and Denzel, Motherly, Cloud's been telling her things he's been remembering including a past relationship with Zack, Aeris... and Sephiroth, First time he told her that she asked "Why did you date SEPHIROTH?" He responded with a list of the qualities he remembered from sane Seph, including 'he was a lot like me back then' and 'he trusted us' as the last bit then Tifa asked "Then why did he turn on you guys so much? If he was so great to you and you were great to him, why did he hurt all of you?" And Cloud responds, "Cause Hojo's a manipulative bastard that only wanted to further his experiments and Jenova was a controlling pissed off bitch that couldn't keep her fingers off of whatever she considered hers, which included me when we first chased Seph, I just got better at pushing her off. And it might have been that Zack and I reacted a bit hastily, we were both angry at him for killing my mother and hurting you, but... quite honestly, I hated Nibelheim and the only feelings I had for it was that it had been where I was born and where I met you." This was in the first month after AC, maybe in the first few weeks. It's been five months since and they've talked a lot about each other and Tifa understands why Cloud hated Nibelheim and got into fights with the other boys. While she still doesn't completely like Sephiroth, if she ever got the chance to meet the younger, sane version she wouldn't bristle as much. But she'd still take her time and make her own judgements.


End file.
